In general, a refrigerator includes a controller for controlling a temperature, humidity, illumination etc. of storage chambers such as a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber. The controller controls the temperature, etc. of the storage chambers according to the manipulation of the user or the default preset in a built-in storage device.
Preferably, the controller is disposed on a front surface of a door installed on the front surface of the refrigerator for easy use.
Referring to FIG. 1, the controller 20′ of the conventional refrigerator 10 is inserted into the front surface of the door 11 covering the front surface of the storage chamber of the refrigerator 10 with its front surface exposed.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4, the controller 20′ includes a control board 21′, a cover 30′ and buttons.
The control board 21′ is a circuit board electrically connected to each device of the refrigerator 10, for controlling the devices. The control board 21′ is fixedly inserted into the front surface of the door 11 of the refrigerator 10.
A liquid crystal screen is a general liquid crystal screen for displaying the control contents of the control board 21′ by pictures or characters. Preferably, the liquid crystal screen is installed at the center of the cover 30′.
The buttons include switches 50′, lamps 51′ and button printed units 31′.
The switches 50′ are adhered to the front surface of the control board 21′. The switches 50′ sense static electricity of the user touching contact units adjacent to the switches 50′, and transmit input signals to the control board 21′, respectively.
The switches 50′ are installed in multiple points on the whole surface of the control board 21′ as many as the buttons of the controller 20′.
The buttons include the button printed units 31′. The button printed units 31′ are disposed in multiple points on the front surface of the cover 30′ to correspond to the switches 50′ in the forward direction. The button printed units 31′ are composed of printed marks, pictures or characters for indicating the positions of the switches 50′. Each of the button printed units 31′ includes a contact unit 32′ and a light emitting slit 33′.
In addition, the button printed units 31′ can be composed of transparent or translucent characters or pictures, for externally transmitting the light emitted from the lamps 51′ discussed later.
The cover 30′ covers the front surface of the control board 21′ to protect the control board 21′ from external shock. Considering that the switches 50′ sense static electricity, the cover 30′ is preferably made of glass which prevents direct contact between the user and the switches 50′ and improves conductivity of the static electricity generated by the user.
The cover 30′ is formed in a rectangular board shape to correspond to the front surface of the control board 21′, for covering the front surface of the control board 21′.
The cover 30′ can also be made of flexible resin, so that the user can easily contact and click the buttons.
The contact units 32′ are formed as parts of the cover 30′, and disposed at the front portions of the switches 50′. The operations and names of the switches 50′ are printed on the contact units 32′.
The operation ranges of the switches 50′, namely, the ranges of sensing static electricity of the user are marked on the contact units 32′.
The light emitting slits 33′ are composed of marks or characters for indicating the contours of the contact units 32′ or the positions of the switches 50′, respectively.
The lamps 51′ are turned on or off by short of the switches 50′, and fixedly installed at one side of the switches 50′, respectively.
The lamps 51′ are light emitting diodes each respectively formed by laminating semiconductors, connecting an electrode to the laminated semiconductors, and covering the resulting semiconductor chip with resin or glass.
When the user intends to manipulate the controller 20′, the user touches the contact unit 32′ formed at the part of the cover 30′. The switch 50′ installed inside the contact unit 32′ touched by the user is operated by sensing static electricity generated by the user. An input signal generated by the operation of the switch 50′ is transmitted to the control board 21′, for operating the circuit of the control board 21′. Therefore, the corresponding device of the refrigerator 10 is controlled.
In addition, when the switch 50′ is operated, power is applied to the lamp 51′ connected to the switch 50′, for making the lamp 51′ emit light. As shown in FIG. 4, the light generated by the lamp 51′ is emitted from the front surface of the control board 21′ to the inner surface of the cover 30′.
The light of the lamp 51′ emitted to the inner surface of the cover 30′ is externally emitted from the cover 30′ through the light emitting slit 33′ including the transparent or translucent portion printed in the button character or picture shape of the button printed unit 31′ and the transparent or translucent portion printed in the contour shape of the contact unit 32′.
The light emitted from the lamp 51′ is also irradiated to the other portions, such as the light emitting slits 33′ of the other buttons adjacent to the light emitting slit 33′, or the contour of the liquid crystal screen, and externally emitted.
In the above example, the user operates the pressure switches by clicking. However, the switches can be formed in various ways. For example, when the contact units are pressurized, a pair of terminals installed inside each contact unit are electrically conducted, for transmitting signals to the controller. As another example, when the contact units are pressurized, components such as pressurization rods installed inside the contact units mechanically pressurize the switches.
In the buttons of the controller 20′ of the conventional refrigerator 10, the light is transmitted through the light emitting slits 33′ corresponding to the buttons adjacent to the button touched by the user. As a result, the user cannot easily distinguish the clicked button from the adjacent buttons.
In addition, the light of the lamps 51′ is diffused inside the cover 30′, partially externally emitted through the light emitting slits 33′, and mostly irradiated to the other portions. Accordingly, the intensity of the light irradiated through the light emitting slits 33′ is weakened, so that the user cannot easily identify the buttons.